


Not Yet

by MagpieWords



Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2018 - MagpieWords [3]
Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkward Flirting, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Coffee Shops, Crushes, Earth's Mightiest Coffee, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Janet Van Dyne & Tony Stark Friendship, Janet Van Dyne has a crush on Professor Pym, M/M, Tony Being Tony, Weird Jokes, caffeine experiments, warning for mild classism?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 18:32:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15273696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagpieWords/pseuds/MagpieWords
Summary: A billionaire works in a coffee shop, jokes with a wasp, makes a green hulk turn red, and flirts with a wizard.





	Not Yet

**Author's Note:**

> For the Tony Stark Bingo, square K5: Coffee Shop
> 
> This was supposed to have more ship content, but let's be honest, Tony Stark and Janet Van Dyne being best friends is a thousand times more important.

“Tony, why are you hiding behind the counter?” Janet Van Dyne was practically on top of the counter, laying across it to look at her best friend.

“Jan, shut up!” Tony hissed up at her from where he was curled under the espresso machine. He moved quickly, peeking over the edge of the counter and dropping back down. “Fuck, too fast, I didn’t see anything.”

Janet twisted, now sitting on the smooth surface next to the cash register. “What are you trying to see?”

Tony practically scowled at her, ready to snark back with a sharp non-answer, but he blinked and his expression melted into something more neutral. “Hey, uh, don’t sit on the counter. Health codes and stuff.”

“Boo, you’re no fun,” she whined, sliding off the counter back to the customer side. “But seriously, what’s going on?”

“I was about to ask the same question,” Bruce stepped out from the kitchen, a fresh plate of croissants balanced on a tray.

“Oh hey, boss man,” Tony grinned up at Bruce, but didn’t move from his hideout.

Sliding the croissants into the display case, Bruce laid the tray in the sink. With his hands free, he pushed his glasses up to rub at the bridge of his nose. “You don’t need to call me that, Tony.”

The young billionaire had only been working at Earth’s Mightiest Coffee for two weeks, but Bruce wished he could have fired him on the second day. Tony was a fast learner, and was actually great at making coffee, but things like this happened _constantly_. Whatever this was. It was no longer surprising to find Tony hiding under counters, eating baked goods on the clock, using the coffee machines off the clock, or any number of shenanigans.

If Bruce hadn’t just be promoted to manager, he’d think this was all hilarious. But he was manager now, and this job paid well. He’d like to keep his job. Sure, the higher ups never really seemed to come by, but with Bruce’s luck, they’d visit just in time to see Tony starting a fire in the espresso press to see if it’ll strengthen the flavor (it does not). Bruce would really like to keep his job.

However, none of that was the worst part of Tony deciding to have his first real job coincidentally at Bruce’s workplace. He could handle the fact that his friend was constantly late, that he always managed to leave more work for Bruce. What he couldn’t handle was Janet. And she and Tony were basically a package deal.

“Dr. Banner!” She grinned at him, sitting on the counter again.

“Not a doctor.”

“Yet.” They’d had this exchange a thousand times, but every time, it prevented Bruce from kicking her out immediately. It should have been annoying when they first met freshman year, it should have gotten old when she started every conversation like that for the past three years, it should have been frustrating when Tony started doing it too. After two weeks of hearing it at least twice a day, Bruce should be done with it. But Janet’s endless vibrancey was just as charming as it was exhausting.

“Are you here to actually purchase something, Miss Van Dyne?” Truth be told, he loved spending time with Janet, just not when he was at work.

“Maybe,” she said, just as Tony said, “wouldn’t bet on it.”

She frowned at him before turning her attention back to Bruce. “I already asked Tony about this, but he isn’t talking.”

“Oh no, Jan, you’re still going on about this?”

She ignored him, keeping her eyes on Bruce. “You’ve got class with Hank this term, right?”

“Ew, don’t say his name like that.” Tony made his way out from out under the counter, only glancing at the walls made of windows a few more times before glaring at Janet.

“You really shouldn’t call professors by their first name,” Bruce added, earning an ugly laugh out of Tony.

Janet simply rolled her eyes. “I’m being serious.”

“Seriously gross. He’s twice your age.”

“He’s twenty-seven, I’m twenty-one. It’s not that weird.” She nudged him and Tony pushed back enough to get her off the counter.

“Um,” Bruce tried to say, but Janet pressed on.

“I want to do an independent study with him next term, and like, okay he’s hot, obvi, and funny and kind and smart and never once laughed at my fairy wings and he always smells like fresh plastic --”

“Ew,” Tony said again.

“Weird,” Bruce agreed.

“Shut up, it’s not. The point is, I haven’t had a class with him since freshman year! I need to know, how is he,” she leaned over the counter again, grabbing Bruce by his shirt collar and pulling him until their noses were touching. She eyes darted around the room dramatically, faking nervousness, but her massive grin gave away her true feelings. She lowered her voice to something deep and sultry. “How is he _in the classroom_?”

“You’re asking a genuinely academic question and you made it sound like a sex thing. Amazing.” Tony sounded genuinely impressed, and Bruce felt even more lost.

He stammered, trying to respond. His face was three shades darker as he blushed. Janet cackled, letting go of his shirt and leaning back to her side of the counter.

“Damnit Janet,” but Tony was laughing with her, “you have no right to make my boss look so hot. Look at his cute red face! I don’t want your weird authority kink, Jan.”

“Ew,” Bruce frowned, but his blush stayed in place. “And I really don’t have that much authority over you, Tony. For the hundredth time, I’m not your boss.”

“Sure thing, boss man.”

“Yeah, and Pym definitely doesn’t have any authority over me. That’s not why I like him.”

“Yeah yeah, it’s because he smells like plastic right?”

Janet flipped him off, reaching across the counter to steal a croissant from the display case as she did.

“Are you going to pay for that?” Bruce asked, but Janet was already out the door. This was why he didn’t like having her around at work.

“Tony’ll cover me!” She shouted over the jingle of the shop bell. Bruce turned to Tony, looking unamused but no less red in the face.

“Red’s a good color on you.”

“Tony.”

“Better than green, right?”

“Tony.”

“Ugh, yeah, I got her,” he sighed as he fished out his wallet.

“You’re a billionaire, T, I’m sure you can afford a croissant,” he said over his shoulder, making his way back to the kitchen.

“Not yet,” Tony mumbled.

As the late afternoon classes were dismissed, more students filed in to Earth’s Mightiest Coffee. The pair of baristas worked together like they’d been a team for months rather than weeks, making drinks with the speed students desired and the accuracy the business required. It felt right, working with Bruce, even if it wasn’t in the lab. They knew each other’s patterns, could move around each other without missing a step, like a well oiled machine. Still, Tony would rather spending the afternoon with his friend making chemical compounds instead of cappuccinos.

“It’s basically the same thing,” Bruce had explained when he was training Tony in the basic drink recipes. “Caffeine is a chemical, right? So are all the other ingredients. And if you put them together with the right quantities and methods…” He ran a cup of milk under the steamer and poured it into the coffee he’d pressed. With a flourish of his wrist, a leaf was formed in the foam. “You get pretty cool results.”

“Yeah, but a coffee won't win me a nobel prize or save our teammates’ lives.”

“Maybe not the first one,” Bruce had agreed, handing Tony the warm mug. “But I’m pretty sure coffee has saved your life more than once.”

Tony had taken a long sip, humming contently as the latte warmed his whole body. “You’re not wrong.”

Bruce had cleaned off the machine immediately after, as was policy, leaning his hip against the counter once he was done. “So, since you’re clearly not planning any caffeine related inventions, why’d you take this job? You don’t exactly need the money.”

Tony had given a nervous laugh. “Yeah, definitely don’t, but I-- well I figured, uh, it’s part of the -- it’s part of the academic experience, right? Part time job, textbooks, all that. Can’t build better supplies for the team if I don’t know what they’re dealing with, right?”

Bruce had narrowed his eyes. He’d known Tony Stark for nearly three years; he knew by then how to tell when Tony was lying. Tony could fake it to the press without fail, when he had a script, but he was a nightmare at improving, especially in front of his friends. “You could just ask them about their experiences?” Bruce had suggested.

“Where’s the fun in that? Besides, I get to hang out with you more!” Tony had given his best press smile and Bruce was even less convinced. But prying information out of Tony never worked, it was better to just wait and see if he’d talk about it on his own. That or wait until the next party they went to together - Tony lost any and all filters when he drank, a fact Bruce had several uncomfortable memories from. He tried not to take advantage of that state, though, tried not to lead Tony towards questions he didn’t want to answer.

That said, Bruce wasn’t above leading Tony in a certain direction while the young billionaire was sober. The afternoon rush had slowed down and the coffee shop was empty. Despite his alter ego, and the friends he’d found himself with, Bruce Banner knew how to be subtle. “Is Jan coming back sometime soon?”

“Not that I know of. Why, you miss her stealing croissants?”

Bruce gave a small laugh but tried to keep himself focused. “No, I just, you’re looking out the window a lot. Waiting for someone?”

Tony gave that same nervous laugh that he had two weeks ago, when Bruce asked him about why he took the job. “Uh, yeah, actually, she might swing by later. Just keeping an eye out. Gotta protect the croissants.”

Bruce tried not to frown. Tony wasn’t even being subtle about the lying, but he wasn’t clamming up yet either. Maybe a different approach. “So, is she going to ask me about Professor Pym every time she comes to visit you at work?”

“You say visit like she doesn’t basically work here.”

Bruce meant to respond with a question, meant to see if getting part-time retail jobs was the new high-class-socialite trend, to see if maybe Janet knew why Tony took this position. Instead, he felt compelled to respond to the casual, playful tone Tony set, and Bruce found himself leaning into his own deadpan humor. It matched Tony and Jan’s bombastic comedy in a way none of the trio understood, but they all appreciated.

“She does not work here.”

“Yet.”

“No, fuck no.” Bruce took off his glasses, surrendering to the headache he felt brewing from their dumb banter. Could a headache be affectionate? If anyone was capable of causing that, it’d be Tony. Bruce cleaned his glasses on his work apron before taking the apron off too. “I can’t handle two of you, I can’t.”

“What, you quitting already, boss man?”

“No, my shift’s up.” He slid his glasses back on and grabbed his backpack. “Actually, I wanted to check with you. The next manager called in sick, you okay to run the place by yourself?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, I’m good.” Tony was already half distracted, glancing out the wide windows.

“Cool, see you tomorrow in bio.”

“Am I taking notes for Jan, or are you?” He looked back at Bruce, grinning.

“Notes for-- oh, because it’s Pym’s class. Hilarious.” Despite his deadpan, he gave a small smile before letting the door close behind him.

The hour after he left was pretty boring, only one or two students coming through, all with simple orders. Tony experimented on injecting a caffeine shot into a croissant (mixed results so far) and idly flipped through the various social media apps on his phone.

He wasn’t looking up when the shop bell rang, then was suddenly halfway to diving under the counter again before he realized it was only Janet. “I can’t believe you’re not taking Espionage 301 with me. It’s so fun and you suck.” She was on her phone too, missing his unnecessary panic as she flopped down into one of the mismatching armchairs to the left of the delivery counter.

“Okay, well I try to avoid Director Fury as much as possible, and that includes his classes. So thanks, but no.”

“Lame. Nat says hi, keeps asking me where you’ve been these last two weeks. Why can’t I tell her about --”

“Oh fuck!” Tony shouted, looking at something just beyond Janet before ducking under the counter for real this time. Janet was shrinking without thinking twice about it, blasters ready as her wings let her hover above the back of the chair. She looked out the wall of windows, but didn’t see anything.

The bell over the door rang again and Stephen Strange walked in. With no one behind the counter, and Janet too small to see if he wasn’t looking for her, the sorcerer shrugged. He pulled out his phone, checking the hours of the shop. He doubted the door would be unlocked if they weren’t open, but it couldn’t hurt to check.

Janet wondered if her grin would still feel too big for her face if she was full sized, because it certainly felt that way now. She flew over the counter and resized sitting next to Tony.

“So, why are we hiding from Doctor Strange?”

“He’s not a doctor.”

“Yet.”

“Keep your voice down,” Tony whispered. He darted up, checking the shop.

“Is he still there?”

“Don’t know, I was too fast, didn’t see anything.”

“Amazing. You didn’t answer my first question.”

“I don’t,” Tony started, curling in on himself a little tighter. In the shadow of the counter, the natural blue glow of his prosthetic arm seemed brighter. “I don’t want him to know I work here.”

“Yeah I got that, but why?” Unlike Bruce, Janet was never shy about pressing Tony for answers. He loved Bruce, of course he did, but he and Janet had known each other basically their entire lives; if he was being an idiot about something, he trusted her with the truth more than anyone else.

Still, this was hard to confess. “Because.”

“Because why?” Once Janet had her mind on an answer, she wouldn’t let him squirm out of it. “Is it the same reason I can’t tell Nat?”

“You can’t tell Nat because she’ll tell everyone. Fuckin’ gossips, the both of you.”

“She wouldn’t tell everyone, not about something like this, and definitely not if you asked her not to.” Janet’s brows knit together. Tony knew Natasha was loyal to people she deemed worth. Despite their strange friendship, Tony and Natasha were in fact friends. It was weird to hear him speak poorly of her about something like this. He’d critique her allegiance to Fury, she’d poke fun at Tony’s strange fashion choices, they’d yell at each other for reckless moves on the battlefield, but they wouldn’t insult each other like this.

“She’d tell Pepper.” Tony’s certainly was unnerving, but not wrong. Natasha (and Tony, to be honest) kept their loyalties aligned with a sort of mental hierarchy. And they both ranked Pepper above each other.

“Does Pepper not know about this?” Janet hadn’t talked to anyone about Tony’s new job; it was too hard to keep track of who knew what, and much easier to say nothing. Which was a bold statement, coming from Janet, who did deserve Tony’s gossip insult.

“No, Pepper does not and _will not_ know about this!” Tony flinched when he realized how loud his voice got. He stole another quick glance at the shop.

“He still there?”

“Didn’t see.”

“Ugh, you suck at spy stuff. Take 301 next term, please.” She’d have to grill him about keeping secrets from Pepper later. Janet shrunk down and flitted upwards for a better view of what was going on.

Stephen had taken to sit in one of the brightly colored armchairs in the small coffee shop, different from the one Janet had occupied just a few moments earlier. The store was open and he assumed they were simply understaffed in the late afternoon hour. The barista was probably in the back, he figured, dealing with something in the kitchen. Stephen was pretty sure he was going to die without some caffeine in his system soon, but he could wait five minutes. And honestly, he’d really rather die than be a Suburban Mom about the whole situation.

Janet scaled back to size, sitting next to Tony again. “Yeah, he’s chilling. Dude, just take his order.”

“Jan, I can’t. One of his moms is the best surgeon in the country and the other is the current Sorcerer Supreme. He’s the third most popular guy at school.”

“And you have a giant crush on him, I know. Why does any of that matte-- wait. Third? Who’s first and second?”

“You and me. Duh.”

“Oh yeah.” She grinned at him before frowning again. “But what does his social status have to do with seeing you working here?”

Tony couldn’t make eye contact anymore, fidgeting with the hem of his uniform apron. Janet almost felt bad for him, but knew those were all signs that he was nearing a confession. “This isn’t… I mean, you’re the only one who knows why I have to, why I’m doing this --”

“Yeah, Howard’s a piece of shit.”

“Thank you,” he responded without thinking. They shared similar sentiments about their respective sets of parents and the exchange was a familiar form of comfort, something they crafted together long before either of them even started applying to Avengers Academy. Tony let the edge of the apron fall from his fingers as he finally looked at Janet.

“My patents don’t start paying until next term and he froze almost all of my savings. I’ve burned through what money I had on rent and ramen. I didn’t even buy textbooks this term. I mean, not like I need them, but still.”

“Tony, the point,” she guided, not unkindly.

“Right. Okay, I could have scrapped by with just babysitting that Parker kid, but I’m short on the rent for the lab space Bruce and I use. I’ve offered to pay his share literally every term, but he always refused so it’s not like I can ask him now. Honestly, I don’t know if he’d be able to cover me anyway and if we don’t pay by the end of the month, the department will cut our power, and he’s got cell cultures that’ll die.”

“Okay, I get why you took the job but--”

“Stephen Strange doesn’t need a part time job. Tony Stark isn’t supposed to either. I--” Tony sighed, looking down again. “I don’t want him to see me _like this_.”

Janet didn’t respond for a moment. With the silence, they could hear the telltale sound of sparks from a portal opening, then fizzling out, followed by Stephen quietly cursing.

“Oh.” Janet looked unamused as she finally processed why Tony had been so weird these last two weeks, then she looked downright furious. “Oh! This is some classism bullshit!”

“What? No!”

“You think you’re better than working retail, Tony Stark? You fucking asshole!”

“No I-- Jan, keep your voice down!”

“No! Get your head out of your ass. And get your weird wizard crush some coffee!” Janet still had the decency to whisper, even if it was a stage whisper at best. She pushed Tony with as much force as she could muster at normal size, sending him sprawling onto the tile behind the bar with a yelp.

“Hello?” Stephen heard the clatter and stood to look towards the source. Tony scrambled to his feet, straightening his visor with the store logo on it and smoothing out his apron.

“Um, hi.” He flashed a nervous smile. “Thanks for waiting.”

“Oh, Tony. I didn’t expect to see you here. What a nice surprise.” Stephen gave a soft smile back and Tony felt himself relax at little. He’d been subtle about his crush; a surprising feat for Tony, especially considering the two had shared a magical physics class every term in their three years at Avengers Academy together. All it took was one shared project in sophomore year and Tony was smitten. It was strange for Tony. Usually, people fawned over him, not the other way around. There was plenty of opportunity to make his crush known, but he hadn’t yet.

“I, uh, yeah.”

Janet had shrunk down again, sitting on Tony’s shoulder and laughing as he tripped over his words. He could hear her, but Stephen was too far away to catch the small sound.

“Well, uh,” Tony tried again, reaching for a plastic cup and a sharpie. “What can I get for you?”

“Your number, perhaps?” Janet teased, doing a poor impression of Strange’s strange accent; whether it was posh New York or grungy London, no one on campus was really sure. Tony tried to swat Janet away but she just flitted around his head, landing on the brim of his uniform visor.

“Ah, yes. Coffee, as dark as you can make it.”

Tony nodded, scribbling down the request, but then Stephen sighed. “Actually wait, no, sorry.” He ran a tired hand over his face and through hair that was already starting to gray around his temples. Tony knew the mystic arts had a stressful effect on the body and the mind, but he didn’t realize it had affected Stephen so much at only the start of his training. Poor guy. “I’m supposed to be drinking tea. Oolong ideally.” He rolled his eyes and leaned on the counter, grinning at Tony. “Cliché, right?”

Tony tried to ignore the way his heart fluttered around the arc reactor. He’d have to check the casing, make sure there wasn’t any damage because that could be the only cause of this sappy, exhilarating feeling. Tony Stark didn’t get flustered by cute wizards smiling like that at him. “So cliché,” he agreed, grinning back and earning a laugh from Stephen.

“Okay, I know chemical engineering isn’t your specialty, but you’re a genius, you can save me. How much caffeine can you stuff in a cup of oolong?” His eyes gleamed, late afternoon sun catching in his gray irises, making them look almost golden.

“You know what I specialize in?” Tony squeaked out instead of answering, completely head over heels from the compliment.

“I know a few things about you. I’d like to know more, though.”

Janet let out a low whistle. “You weren’t kidding about him being popular, this wizard is sauve! Careful T, I can feel your reactor overheating from here.” She laughed at him, but Tony ignored her.

“I, um, yeah. Yeah okay. If you’re interested, I’ve actually been experimenting with additional caffeine levels…” He didn’t even notice his nervous stuttering becoming energetic rambling as he prepared the drink, but Stephen never tried to stop him. He’d interjet, add ideas of his own or ask questions, as if he was actually interested in Tony’s chatter, which was nice. Their conversation flowed so naturally until there was a warm cup of supercharged oolong between them.

“Well,” Stephen took the beverage and their hands brushed together. “Thank you.”

“Any time.” Tony wished he could stop grinning, he knew he had to look ridiculous. This wasn’t his press smile, wasn’t the flirty smirk he threw at anyone cute who looked his way. This was the lopsided, overjoyed, dorky grin he only really shared with Pepper, Bruce, or Janet.

“Really?” But Stephen was grinning back, just as silly, especially on his normally serious face. “What time do you work? We don’t have class together this term but maybe I could stop by and see you here?”

Tony rambled off his hours without thinking, and Stephen nodded along. He turned to head out, a goodbye on his lips, but Tony called him back. “Wait!” The way Stephen cocked his head, curious and _so_ cute, almost made Tony lose his nerve, but he did everything in his power to keep his infamously charming smile in place. “I’ll do you one better. Take me to dinner tomorrow night? There’s a new place just off campus I want to try, Entrees Assemble or something like that.”

Now Stephen was the one tripping over his words. “Oh. Oh! Yes absolutely, like a-- like a date right? Or not yet, we hardly know each other--”

“Yeah, like a date. And I know a few things about you, Doctor Strange, but I’d like to know more.”

Stephen looked grateful for the save. “I’m not a doctor yet.”

“No, not yet. And I’m not a billionaire yet. But that’s…” Tony bit his lip, fighting the urge to fidget with the hem of his apron again. “That’s cool, right?”

“Very cool.” The word sounded strange coming from Strange, but it was too cute for Tony to be bothered by. “Oh,” he held up the cup of still warm tea. “How much do I owe you?”

“It’s on the house.”

“Thank you.” A faint blush brushed over the bridge of Stephen’s nose, as though no one had ever treated him to coffee before. Lacking anything to respond with, he gave a curt nod and made his way out the door. His long red scarf breezed behind him, seeming to wave at Tony before the shop was empty again.

Well, empty only for a moment. Janet returned to full size behind the counter, screaming with delight. She grabbed Tony’s hands and then they were both screaming and jumping up and down together.

“What just happened?” He laughed, sound filling the store.

“You scored a date with the third coolest guy in school!” She stopped jumping, falling back against the display case like a swooning debutante. “Tony, that was amazing!”

Tony straightened his work hat, staring out the wide windows in the direction Stephen went as he caught his breath from all the excitement. “Yeah, it was.”

“Hey, think Bruce will hire me? I’m pretty sure Hank gets coffee here.”

And Tony was breathlessly laughing again, shoving Janet off the glass case only for her to shove him back. Next to them, there were orange sparks above the tip jar. A generous tip dropped in, along with a phone number hastily scribbled on a scrap of paper.

**Author's Note:**

> harass me on [tumblr](http://magpiewords.tumblr.com) i could literally talk about Tony and Janet's friendship for hours


End file.
